JANUARY 30, 2026 – The Feb. 11 deadline approaches to submit applications to the Scholarships for Military Children program, administered by the nonprofit Fisher House Foundation.
A total of 500 scholarship grants, each for $2,000, will be awarded for the 2026-27 school year with at least one recipient selected at each military commissary store location where qualified applications are received. Additional recipients will be selected based on a prorated basis, so more grants will be awarded to students at those commissaries with larger numbers of applicants.
The program was created in 2001 to recognize the contributions of military families to the readiness of the fighting force, and to celebrate the role of the commissary in the military community. It is open to the children of active duty, reserve/guard, or retired military commissary customers.
Now in its 26th year, the program has awarded more than $24,126,000 in scholarships over the last 25 years, selected from a pool of more than 128,550 applicants. The selection process will begin immediately following the application deadline of Feb. 11, at 9 p.m. PST.
Eligibility for the program is determined using the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) database. Applicants should ensure that they, as well as their sponsor, are enrolled in the DEERS database and have a current military dependent ID card. The applicant must also be planning to attend or already be attending an accredited college or university full time or be enrolled in a program of studies designed to transfer directly into a four-year program.
Applicants who are awarded a full scholarship to attend a college or university or receive an appointment to one of the service academies or affiliated preparatory schools are not eligible to receive funds from this program. A full scholarship is usually defined as one that provides for payment of tuition, books, lab fees and other expenses.
The application process is now entirely online, making it easy to create an account, save work and submit applications. All rules and requirements for the program, as well as links to frequently asked questions and the application itself, are available at https://fisherhouse.org/programs/scholarship-programs/scholarships-for-military-children/ web page.
Fisher House also hosts a custom scholarship search engine tailored to military families on its website called https://search.militaryscholar.org/ It’s free, easy to use and formatted for both mobile devices and computers at MilitaryScholar.org.
The Scholarships for Military Children program is managed by Scholarship Managers, a national, nonprofit organization. If students have questions about the scholarship program application, they should contact Scholarship Managers by phone at 856-616-9311 or via email at mailto:militaryscholar@scholarshipmanagers.com.
No government funds are used to support the Scholarships for Military Children Program. Commissary vendors, manufacturers, brokers, suppliers and the general public donate money to fund the program.
About DeCA:
The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees, disabled veterans and other authorized patrons and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which supports the costs of building, modernizing and sustaining commissary facilities. A core military family support element and valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military services and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.
NOTE: To see a DeCA video related to this release, https://vimeo.com/defensecommissary/scholarshipsformilitarychildren2026?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci.
Courtesy Story
Defense Commissary Agency